If you've ever swapped one of your toys with a friend in return for one of their toys, you have bartered. Bartering is trading services or goods with another person when there is no money involved. This type of exchange was relied upon by early civilizations. There are even cultures within modern society who still rely on this type of exchange. Bartering has been around for a very long time, however, it's not necessarily something that an economy or society has relied solely on.
Need a ride? Zimride is a ride share service which members use to set up private networks for sharing rides and saving money. Most cars fit four people, yet we usually commute by ourselves. Why not share the burden of car ownership and resource consumption? Centered around hundreds of colleges and universities, you can probably find a ride almost anywhere you need to go near campus.
While the original idea for Rehash was to design clothing out of recycled clothes, it eventually evolved into a site for trading clothes with other users. Members can trade their unwanted stuff (clothing and accessories) with others who are looking for new items for their wardrobe, and vice-versa. Rehash also acts as a social community where users can get green living advice, read articles, request items, and attend swap events. Membership is free to interested parties.
When exchanging services, it’s important to remember that bartering is considered income. While you may be able to write off expenses you incur during the barter, you must claim the fair market value of the services you provided as income. For example, if you charge $60 an hour as a massage therapist, and you trade a one-hour massage for housecleaning services, you may have to claim the equivalent income. When you trade assets, you may even be responsible for tracking capital gains or losses. If you have any doubts or questions, consult the IRS website.
With over 40,000 listings in 142 countries, HomeExchange lists free places to stay almost everywhere in the world. Members pay just $9.95 per month to trade their homes and apartments with each other. After the monthly fee, your vacation lodging expenses won’t cost any more staying at home would. You’ll get to stay in a new place, while someone else comes to stay in your home, both free of charge.
In Spain (particularly the Catalonia region) there is a growing number of exchange markets.[20] These barter markets or swap meets work without money. Participants bring things they do not need and exchange them for the unwanted goods of another participant. Swapping among three parties often helps satisfy tastes when trying to get around the rule that money is not allowed.[21]
With 8.5 million members and 5,000 groups, Freecycle is like the mother of all garage sales, with one exception: Everything is free! The site started as a grassroots organization, encouraging members to reuse products rather than send them out to the landfills. For example, I have used Freecycle many times to find new owners for pieces of my cassette and record collection, piles of magazines and books, and assorted unneeded tools.
Anthropologists have argued, in contrast, "that when something resembling barter does occur in stateless societies it is almost always between strangers, people who would otherwise be enemies."[6] Barter occurred between strangers, not fellow villagers, and hence cannot be used to naturalisticly explain the origin of money without the state. Since most people engaged in trade knew each other, exchange was fostered through the extension of credit.[4][7] Marcel Mauss, author of 'The Gift', argued that the first economic contracts were to not act in one's economic self-interest, and that before money, exchange was fostered through the processes of reciprocity and redistribution, not barter.[8] Everyday exchange relations in such societies are characterized by generalized reciprocity, or a non-calculative familial "communism" where each takes according to their needs, and gives as they have.[9]
It is estimated that over 450,000 businesses in the United States were involved in barter exchange activities in 2010. There are approximately 400 commercial and corporate barter companies serving all parts of the world. There are many opportunities for entrepreneurs to start a barter exchange. Several major cities in the U.S. and Canada do not currently have a local barter exchange. There are two industry groups in the United States, the National Association of Trade Exchanges (NATE) and the International Reciprocal Trade Association (IRTA). Both offer training and promote high ethical standards among their members. Moreover, each has created its own currency through which its member barter companies can trade. NATE's currency is the known as the BANC and IRTA's currency is called Universal Currency (UC).[28]